Luxor - Gwen Books

The country is safe, open to travelers and is amid a hotel renaissance, and the new Egyptian Museum is scheduled for a fall opening. An exclusive private tour of Egypt, which is perfect for anyone who wants to see the country’s most significant cultural artifacts and enjoy the most luxurious accommodations.

Our clients are escorted throughout Egypt by one of the country’s top private guides including on the luxury Nile River cruise. Experience Cairo as an insider. Visit the most interesting cultural attractions in the historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, such as the Citadel, the Egyptian Museum, (fingers crossed the new Museum opens soon), and the Hanging Church.

Explore our favorite neighborhoods, which are filled with beautiful Mameluk, Ottoman, Fatimid, Islamic, Coptic and Art Deco architecture. With a look at the well-preserved medieval residences originally owned by wealthy merchants. Meander through fascinating markets such as the legendary Khan al-Khalili bazaar, this huge bazaar is in the center of Islamic Cairo.

Also visit smaller and lesser-known museums dedicated to Islamic art, applied arts and Egyptian culture.

Spend a day on a private excursion to the Pyramids of Giza, a UNESCO-listed burial complex that includes pyramids, tombs, temples, the Solar Boat and the Great Sphinx. Giza was built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

Egypt
Egypt
Egypt

Visit the even older pyramids of Dahshur and Saqqara. If inclined, you might want to try the ancient transportation vehicle on the back of a camel by the Giza Pyramids, and perhaps see the interiors of the Great and Bent pyramids.

We can arrange VIP experiences including exclusive access to well-preserved tombs that are not open to the public and after-hours private tours of major sites such as the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids of Giza.

Next, fly to Aswan, considered Egypt’s loveliest city, more idyllic than other Egyptian cities. Aswan is known for its beautiful Nile Valley scenery, significant archaeological sites, and its peaceful aura. It’s warm all year round, which makes it a perfect winter destination. The city provides splendid views and attractions to sail or motor through the Nile. The legendary Old Cataract Hotel is situated on the banks of the Nile River in Aswan. An oasis reminiscent of a legendary dream, five star luxury on the banks of the Nile. Made famous by Agatha Christie, the charm still abounds.

During private touring with your Egyptologist guide, learn about Nubian life, history, and crafts at the excellent Nubian Museum. We won’t miss the stunning Temple of Philae, the High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk. The Unfinished Obelisk is a more than 3,500-year-old monument from ancient Egypt that was abandoned when cracks formed in the granite.

Next fly to Abu Simbel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and two spectacular monumental temples commissioned by Pharaoh Ramses II and carved into sandstone cliffs. This is generally considered the grandest and most beautiful of the temples commissioned during the reign of Ramesses II, and one of the most beautiful in Egypt.

Next, enjoy a four-night luxury Nile River cruise. Tour extraordinary archaeological sites such as the Temple of Horus (Edfu) and the Temple of Kom Ombo.

Modern Luxor which is also known as the world’s greatest open-air museum. It contains the ruins of the temples of Karnak and Luxor. The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, ancient burial grounds, lie nearby – these are where the ritual burials of the Pharaohs took place. To avoid feeling rushed in Luxor, you’ll need at least two days to explore its treasures. Before taking a Luxor day tour to delve into this age-old city, however, spend an hour or so in the Luxor Museum for a refresher course in Egyptian history. Visit Luxor Temple and the Karnak complex, Medinet Habu, the Colossi of Memnon, and the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, including the tombs of King Tut and Ramses VI.

Along the Nile
Along the Nile
Along the Nile

We can also arrange access to the spectacular tombs of Seti I and Queen Nefertari. Throughout the cruise, we can arrange private shore excursions with your own Egyptologist guide.

Hotels – The Jewel in the Desert, Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor a 5-star luxury hotel built in 1886 by British explorers perched on the Nile River amid luxuriant tropical gardens and ancient temples.

Depending on your travel dates, this cruise is also available in reverse, from Luxor to Aswan.

Addicted to the charm and history of Egypt? Continue to the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, which was founded by Alexander the Great and is today Egypt’s second-largest city, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. The Pearl of the Mediterranean has an ambiance more in keeping with its neighbors to the north than with those in the Middle East.

Explore the hidden charms of this fascinating city during touring with your private guide and driver. Visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina—a striking, state-of-the-art library and museum of antiquities—as well as ancient monuments, catacombs, and the site of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient World.

Egypt has been a major tourist destination since the 19th century, and it is one of the hottest destinations for travel by Americans. There’s always going to be a big market for tourism given how much Egyptian history along with the eternal fascination with pyramids, temples, and tombs still intrigue us centuries later.

While Egypt has a lot to offer in terms of tourism, enjoying a classic felucca boat down the Nile, marveling at the Pyramids, exploring the spectacles of Luxor, one can now add on a dazzling visit to the renovated Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller,” Ibn Battuta.

Will you ever forget grade school geography books with glossy vivid color photos of the pyramids? Stimulating dreams of exotic societies, pondering feats of impressive engineering and the mysteries surrounding the ancient people who built them for the Egyptian pharaohs who expected to become gods in the afterlife.

I sat transfixed one chilly morning on the bow of our boat motoring from Aswan to Luxor – the photos appear to be from Biblical times. At this point in my travel life, I am besotted by raw culture, ancient civilizations which haven’t seemed to have changed in hundreds of years. And of course, the entrée – the history, the pyramids and the sphinx, and the ancient burial tombs in the midst of twenty first century life.

Elderly man with a sheet full of alfalfa climbed down to the edge of the Nile with breakfast for his donkeys. Assume it is a daily ritual.

A home owner who appears to have seen Roman columns of a temple and using same technology on river home on the Nile.

Egypt is safe for Americans, I was welcomed by everyone and invited to pose in photos with locals – tall blondes are infrequent! The food is delectable and very healthy; I will never again eat pita bread in the U.S., equivalent to cardboard after snacking on hot from an oven pita bread used to scoop up an abundant assortment of garden-fresh mezzes.

Charter boat on the Nile- it comes with a tugboat in the event the wind doesn’t provide enough energy.

Men on the Nile building a dock from palm or date trees.

Morning sail along the Nile- Very low boat, assume they stay close to shore to avoid the wake of larger boats.

Farmers piloting donkey carts overloaded with the most beautiful enormous vegetables and fruit come to the cities at dawn, in the mix of traffic, it’s a stunning fusion of moving vehicles, flowing and weaving.